Wolseley plc
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| Type | Public limited company |
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| Traded as | LSE: WOS |
| Industry | Building materials |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Headquarters | Theale, Nr. Reading, United Kingdom |
| Key people | John Whybrow (Chairman) Ian Meakins (CEO) |
| Revenue | £13,203 million (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | £135 million (2010)[1] |
| Net income | £(340) million (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 47,000 (2010)[2] |
| Website | www.wolseley.com |
Wolseley plc (LSE: WOS) is a multinational building materials distribution company headquartered near Reading, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest heating and plumbing distributor to the professional market and has approximately 47,000 employees across 25 countries.[2][3] Its brands include Brossette, Build Center, Ferguson, Pipe Center, Plumb Center and Wolseley.[4]
Wolseley is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Ltd was founded by Irishman Frederick York Wolseley in Sydney, Australia, in 1887.[5] It was the first company to produce a mechanical sheep shearing machine. In 1889 Wolseley transferred his patents to a new company registered in London, because he was unable to find adequate subcontractors to build the parts in Australia.
The future car magnate Herbert Austin joined the company, in Australia, in 1888 and became works manager the following year;[5] he returned to England with Frederick York Wolseley in November 1893 when they moved into a factory in Broad Street, Birmingham, England.[5]
[edit] Wolseley cars
Austin moved the company to a bigger factory in Aston, Birmingham, and also took on the manufacture of bicycles to keep the factory busy, as the production of sheep shearing equipment was seasonal work . In 1896 Austin designed the first Wolseley car,[5] which was based on a model he had seen on holiday in France. The production run for "Autocar Number One", advertised at £110, was just one, but later models were more successful. In 1901 the car company, Wolseley Tool & Motor Car Company Limited, was purchased by Vickers.[5] Austin resigned from the Wolseley Tool & Motor Car Company Limited in 1905[5] and built up his own Austin empire at Longbridge.
[edit] Diversification
Herbert Austin, however continued to work, part-time, for the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Ltd, which continued to manufacture sheep shearing machines and other agricultural equipment. He was Chairman of the Board from 1911 to 1933. In the 1950s it introduced a range of electric fencing and motor cultivators and in 1958 it merged with Geo H Hughes, a Birmingham based manufacturer of wheels for prams and later wheels for industrial use, and was renamed Wolseley-Hughes.[5]
[edit] Building supplies business
In 1960 the company bought Nu-Way Heating Limited which was the beginning of its transformation into a heating and building supplies company.[5] Nu-Way's spare parts components business developed into OBC (Oil Burner Components). In 1965 Wolseley purchased Granville Controls and Yorkshire Heating Supplies to complement OBC's product range.[5] From 1973 the products of these three manufacturing businesses were sold through Wolseley-Hughes Merchants, which was founded in that year.[5] It later changed its name to Wolseley Centers.[5]
The company continued to expand by purchasing both manufacturing and distribution businesses. In 1982 it entered the United States market by acquiring Ferguson Enterprises, a distributor of plumbing supplies with around 50 branches on the East Coast of the United States.[5] In 1984 some of the manufacturing businesses were sold off, and since that time Wolseley has been mainly a distribution company.[5] Further acquisitions in the UK and U.S. followed regularly and in 1992 Wolseley entered the Continental European market for the first time by buying a French plumbing supplies business called Brossette.[5] Many more acquisitions of distribution businesses followed, and in 2000 Wolseley sold most of its remaining manufacturing businesses to Cinven for £215 million.[5]
In July 2008, following the effects of the credit crunch, the company issued a profit warning and announced 6,000 job losses.[6]
On the 25 July 2011 Managing Director of Wolseley UK Paul Turner address a letter to all registered customers announcing the sale of Build Center to Jewson Ltd. The letter also described how Jewson Ltd already operates from over 950 locations throughout the UK and Ireland.
[edit] Operations
Wolseley is organised geographically:[7]
- Wolseley UK, based in Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, uses the following brands: Bathstore, Brooks, Broughton Crangrove, Galley Matrix, Climate Center, Drain Center, Heat Merchants, Nevill Long, Parts Center, Pipe Center, Plumb Center, William Wilson, Unifix (UK), Wolseley Ireland and Tubs & Tiles.
- Wolseley US operates Ferguson Enterprises (plumbing and heating).
- Wolseley Canada is organised into the following businesses: Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Group, Mechanical Group, Industrial Products Group, Meridan Pipe, Valves and Fittings (PVF) Group and Engineered Pipe Group.
- DT Group, based in Denmark, operates in Northern and Central Europe with the following brands: Silvan, Stark, Starkki, Beijer Byggmaterial, Neumann, Woodcote and Cheapy.
Wolseley operates in total of 25 countries around the world, including:[8]
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[edit] Key people
Key people are:[9]
- Gareth Davis – Chairman
- Ian Meakins – Chief Executive Officer
- Frank W Roach – Chief Executive, North America
- Robert H Marchbank – Chief Executive, Europe
- John W Martin – Chief Financial Officer
- Gareth Davis – Non Executive Director
- Andrew J Duff – Non Executive Director
- James I K Murray – Non Executive Director
- Nigel M Stein – Non Executive Director
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Annual Report and Accounts 2010". Wolseley plc. http://www.wolseley.com/~/media/Files/W/Wolseley/Reports-and-Results/Wolseley_AR_2010.pdf?. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
- ^ a b "Key facts". Wolseley plc. http://www.wolseley.com/about-us/key-facts.aspx. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
- ^ "Wolseley gives hope to economic recovery with 4pc rise in revenues". The Telegraph. 8 December 2010. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/engineering/8187179/Wolseley-gives-hope-to-economic-recovery-with-4pc-rise-in-revenues.html. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ "Our businesses". Wolseley plc. http://www.wolseley.com/our-businesses.aspx. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Company history". Wolseley plc. http://www.wolseley.com/about-us/company-history.aspx. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
- ^ Wolseley axes two directors in cash saving measure
- ^ Wolseley: Our companies
- ^ Wolseley: About us
- ^ Wolseley: Management Team
[edit] External links
- employee forum
- Corporate site
- Yahoo! profile
- the start of Wolseley in Birmingham
- Plumb Center
- Ferguson Enterprises
- Wolseley Canada
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